The Ross Report

In honor of the great Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's passing this past weekend, JR reflects on the legendary manager and commentator's illustrious career with two of Bobby's colleagues: WWE Hall of Fame announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund and former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone.

Later in the show, JR is joined by "The Hurricane" Shane Helms to discuss his own thoughts on Bobby Heenan, Shane's recent stint as a creative team member with Global Force Wrestling and what the likelihood is of him returning to the WWE.

Celeste Bonin, known to wrestling fans as former WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn, joins JR this week on the podcast to discuss her current entrepreneurial pursuits with her fitness apparel company Celestial Bodiez (www.celestialbodiez.com) as well as her time in WWE. Celeste shares how she was hired, what it was like jumping right into the mix with the 3rd season of NXT, winning the Divas championship from Eve Torres, her relationship with AJ Lee, her thoughts on TOTAL DIVAS and much more!

The legendary Steve Lombardi aka the Brooklyn Brawler joins JR this week to catch up with some old stories from his storied career with the WWE. Hear about the Ultimate Warrior, Genichiro Tenryu, pinning HHH, prepping the Rock and John Cena for the big time, his new Michigan-based wrestling promotion and so much more. And don't forget to check out the Brawler's new e-book AND audio book BRAWLER UNFILTERED on Amazon!

Its PWI 500 time this week on the Ross Report as JR welcomes Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Senior Writer Dan Murphy to the show to discuss this year's much anticipated and highly debated edition of the PWI 500! Later in the show, JR is joined by ProWrestling.net's Jason Powell to discuss all of the latest news in pro wrestling and MMA including Mayweather/McGregor, the build to WWE's NO MERCY, the WWE Mae Young Classic and the Sexy Star incident at AAA's TripleMania.

JR this week is joined by Mike Johnson from PWInsider.com to break down all of the action from WWE SummerSlam in Brooklyn including the dominance of Braun Strowman in the Fatal 4-Way, Shinsuke Nakamura vs Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship and Brock Lesnar's stellar work in the main event. JR and Mike also discuss NXT Takeover with JR's turn at the announce table for Itami vs Black, expectations for Mayweather vs McGregor as well as questions from social media regarding Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt and WWE's PG direction. All this plus news on ROH, Jim Cornette in GFW and much more!

Bruce Mitchell from the Pro Wrestling Torch joins JR this week on the podcast to discuss all of the action from WWE Battleground, including the Punjabi Prison match, the Flag match between John Cena and Rusev, Xavier Woods stepping up in the tag title match and why Natalya is a great challenger for the Smackdown Women's title. JR and Bruce also look at the impact of the Mae Young classic, the fond memories from this past weekend at the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and listener questions about the state of the WWE Cruiserweights and New Japan in the US.

Pro wrestling journalist extraordinaire Dave Meltzer from WrestlingObserver.com joins JR this week to discuss a number of topics, including the WWE Mae Young Classic, reactions to the reveal of Jason Jordan as Kurt Angle's son on WWE Raw, the WWE Universal Championship scene and thoughts on the Mayweather/McGregor press conferences. All this plus listener questions addressing New Japan, Global Force Wrestling, match ratings and much more!

JR is in Orlando, on-site at the WWE Performance Center and he's joined by TWO incredible WWE Hall of Famers - Lita AND Madusa. The ladies sit down with JR on the podcast this week to look ahead to the first-ever WWE Mae Young Classic and its impressive crop of competitors, breaking down the stories behind some of the finest women wrestlers in the world. Also, JR gives his thoughts on WWE's Great Balls of Fire including why Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe are not finished with each other, the importance of the time limit in the RAW tag team championship match and the upside of Braun Strowman. All this plus so much more!

Its a loaded show this week as Stone Cold Steve Austin stops by to chat with JR about his experience at the New Japan shows in Long Beach this past weekend as well as what he thinks makes Kenny Omega a stand-out talent as well as who else on the NJ roster impressed him from the event. Then, later in the show, Mike Johnson from PWInsider gets on the line with JR to further discuss the New Japan event, give some backstage news from Global Force Wrestling's Slammiversary event, preview the Joe/Lesnar bout coming up this Sunday at WWE's Great Balls of Fire PPV and offer up his takes on JR's forthcoming book!

Joining JR this week on the podcast is ProWrestling.nets Jason Powell to discuss all of the developments from the WWE Money In The Bank event including the controversial result of the first-ever Women's Money In The Bank match, the rather abrupt ending to the Smackdown tag team title match as well as the big money potential the WWE has in a match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura.

Also, JR and Jason talk about this week's WWE Raw and the return of Braun Strowman, the important task ahead for Cody Rhodes at the New Japan event in Long Beach, how significant the upcoming Slammiversary event is for Impact Wrestling as well as Ring of Honor's television future.